Lacan and the destiny of literature : desire, jouissance and the sinthome in Shakespeare, Donne, Joyce and Ashbery / Ehsan Azari.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Azari, Ehsanullah.

Series:

Continuum literary studies

Continuum literary studies series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lacan, Jacques, 1901-1981.

Lacan, Jacques.

Psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalysis in literature.

Physical Description:

205 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Continuum, [2008]

Summary:

In contemporary academic literary studies, Lacan is often considered impenetrably obscure, due to the unavailability of his late works, insufficient articulation of his methodologies and sometimes stereotypical use of Lacanian concepts in literary theory. This study aims to integrate Lacan into contemporary literary study and criticism by engaging with a broad range of Lacanian theoretical concepts, often for the first time in English, and using them to analyse a range of key texts from different periods. Azari explores Lacan's theory of desire as well as his final theories of lituraterre, littoral, and the sinthome and interrogates a range of poststructuralist interpretive approaches. In the second part of the book, he outlines the variety of ways in which Lacanian theory can be applied to literary texts and offers detailed readings of texts by Shakespeare, Donne, Joyce and Ashbery. This ground-breaking study provides original insights into a number of the most influential intellectual discussions in relation to Lacan and will fill a recognised gap in understanding Lacan and his legacy for literary study and criticism.

Contents:

1 Desire, the Lacanian Cogito 9

2 Desire and Sexual Difference 25

3 Beyond Desire: Love, Mystic Jouissance and The Sinthome 41

4 Lacan, Literary Theory and Criticism 57

5 Shakespeare's Theatre of Desire 77

6 John Donne's Hymns to Love, Desire and Jouissance 117

7 Joyce's Wakean Sinthome 139

8 The Function of the Specular Image and the Littoral in John Ashbery's Poetry 158.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [183]-197) and index.

ISBN:

9781847063793

1847063799

OCLC:

212847556